Unexpected Consequences
by winter s. jameson
Summary: During the episode "Fight Fighters", both Dipper and Mabel have some issues to deal with between the time that Dipper and Robbie enact their "Cold War pact" near the foot of the water tower and when they're both sitting and listening to Wendy at the Shack some time later. Who better to help the twins deal with their problems than each other?


_I love the episode "Fight Fighters"; it's a lot of fun. But when it was over I couldn't help but ask myself what Dipper's response was when he found out that Mabel and Stan had also been on top of the tower when Rumble almost punched it down. And what about Mabel's fear of heights? So, as is the way of such things between me and my muse, I needed to write a story to answer those questions. This is the result. I hope you enjoy, and feel free to let me know what you think!_

* * *

Dipper sighed as Robbie disappeared from the park. The two of them had shared one last narrow-eyed glare before going their separate ways once Wendy had left with her family and they had agreed to their "Cold War pact". It had been one heck of an afternoon, filled with lessons painfully learned. The twelve-year-old knew he'd never forget them.

A beat-up, dull brown truck pulled up to the curb next to him when he stepped onto the sidewalk to begin the walk back home. Dipper smiled tiredly at the driver, happy to see him. "Hey, Soos," he greeted the Mystery Shack's handyman, for once not caring that his voice cracked.

"Hey, Dipper," Soos returned the greeting, a glint of pride in his eyes as he smiled at his young friend. "I figured you could use a ride after dealing with that video game guy. Hop in and I'll take you back to the Shack."

"That sounds a lot better than walking all that way. Thanks." Dipper quickly got into the truck, and they headed toward the outskirts of Gravity Falls where the weird tourist trap stood.

"You need any help with those cuts and bruises?" Soos asked as they pulled into the empty parking lot.

Dipper shook his head. "There aren't really all that many scrapes and cuts, and the bruises just need time to heal," he said. "I might grab a small bag of ice for one or two, though." He flinched as he rolled his right shoulder, the one he'd landed on after Rumble McSkirmish had pounded him with the multi-prefixed attack that had finished their battle. "Yeah, that one's going to need ice. Ouch."

Soos pointed at the preteen's right eye. "You might want to think about that one, too. It looks like it's swelling shut."

Dipper nodded. "Most likely." He sighed. "I thought I was awkward-looking before. For the next couple of days I'm going to be downright hideous."

"Aw, it won't be that bad," Soos assured him with a smile. "You'll see." With a nod he got out of the vehicle, Dipper following his lead.

"I hope you're right, Soos. I really hope you're right." Dipper gestured toward the house. "I'm going to go get some aspirin and ice then lie down for a while. I'm totally wiped out." He started walking in that direction.

"Hope you feel better soon!" Soos called after him before heading toward the Mystery Shack's golf cart. He needed to take a look at the engine and figure out what the noise was that Mister Pines had mentioned the day before.

Dipper trudged his way onto the porch and was a bit surprised to find the door locked. A quick glance around confirmed Grunkle Stan's car was indeed gone; the old man and Mabel must have found something to do with themselves while he was busy contemplating his mortality at the hands of the video game character he'd brought into the real world to be his bodyguard. Lucky them. He sighed and pulled his house key out of his pocket, then went inside to soothe his aches and pains.

* * *

A little while later, Dipper had piled up pillows so he could settle onto his bed halfway sitting up, blue puffy vest set aside to allow for a plastic storage bag full of ice to rest on his sore shoulder on top of his T-shirt, and with another one wrapped in a thin hand towel planted on his blackening eye. With his free hand he held the book he was in the middle of reading, bringing it down to turn the page with his other hand without shifting that shoulder. It wasn't the easiest task with only one eye, but it helped him relax. He had needed that more than anything.

The sound of the residence door closing downstairs registered at the edge of his awareness, most likely signifying that his great uncle and sister were back. The two sets of footsteps that followed confirmed it. Dipper spared a thought to be grateful he hadn't been down there to greet them; he suspected his battered appearance would attract a bit of teasing, and he wasn't up for that quite yet. Taking a deep breath and releasing it through pursed lips, he continued reading.

What finally dragged him totally away from the compelling tale was a strange, slow rhythm coming up the stairs. They were definitely footsteps, but he couldn't immediately identify who they belonged to. Stan tended to trudge up, usually with a muttered complaint or three about age and aching body parts. Soos' steps always seemed to have a purpose, a steady, deliberate pace that said he had somewhere to go and something to do when he got there – and he'd be more than happy to do the task. On top of that, both men's steps just had more weight than the careful ones currently making their way to the attic. It couldn't be either of them.

That left Mabel, since Wendy didn't really come upstairs, at least not to the attic. But his sister never went anywhere at such a sedate pace. She ran up and down the stairs, hurrying to get to whatever new, exciting thing was at the end of them. The lightness of the steps was there, though, even going so slowly. Dipper lowered his book and took the ice pack off of his eye, figuring he could use all the sight he had at his disposal to figure out what was going on.

He had just blinked away the numbness when the top of a brown-haired head incrementally came into view. The person was indeed Mabel, carefully taking one step at a time and almost pressing herself against the wall and away from the open railing. Dipper frowned at the odd sight then marked his page and put his book aside. The latest adventure of the Sibling Brothers could wait.

"Mabel, what's going on?" he called out once he could see all of her face.

The girl brought her head up sharply, eyes wide. That was understandable, as there had been no way to know that Dipper was in their room. The actions that made for more questions were throwing herself against the wall and freezing, every muscle tense. "Dipper!" she cried, startled. "I didn't know you were here!"

Dipper couldn't keep from smirking a bit as he replied. "Obviously." The expression quickly faded, however. "Mabel, are you okay? You're acting kind of weird."

She scoffed, but before she tried to answer she narrowed her eyes to try to look closer at her brother. "Dipper? Is that a black eye? Oh my gosh!" Whatever had been bothering her was forgotten, and she flew up the few remaining stairs to hurry into their room and next to his bed. "What happened? Did Robbie beat you up?" She paused for a second. "I wonder how he survived that fall."

"Rumble caught him before he hit the ground," Dipper explained, then paused himself. "Wait a second, you saw that?"

"Yeah, it was scary! I didn't think anyone could survive a fall like that!"

"He almost didn't, but that had more to do with Rumble than gravity. I couldn't believe it. So what were you doing there?"

Mabel sighed and grimaced a bit guiltily. "I thought I could cure Grunkle Stan's fear of heights by blindfolding him and taking him to the top of the water tower. It worked in the end, but for a while I thought we were going to end up following Robbie over the railing." She shuddered.

A sudden lump formed in Dipper's throat as a horrifying realization hit him square between the eyes. "You… were on top of the water tower with Robbie when he fell?" he choked out.

Mabel frowned. "Well, yeah. That's what I just said. Did Robbie beating you up wreck your hearing?"

"No, no, I heard you. It's just…" The words trailed off, and Dipper tried coming at the thing from another angle. "Did you and Grunkle Stan figure out what happened to the tower to make Robbie fall?"

"Once we got back on the ground," here Mabel took a deep, shuddering breath and blew it out slowly, "we saw that one of the leg thingies that hold up the tower was cracked. It was pretty bad. Stan said it was probably some crazy teenager that hit it with their parents' car." Mabel frowned again. "But I don't remember hearing a car."

Dipper blew out another breath and let his eyes close. All the guilt he was feeling about everything that happened that afternoon increased exponentially at that moment. His self-centered thoughtlessness had endangered his sister and great uncle! He never would have been able to forgive himself had anything happened to either one of them.

He was definitely feeling like the bad guy Rumble had said he was.

"Dipper?" Mabel asked, worry at his long silence infusing her tone. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, not opening his eyes. "I am so, so sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" Mabel asked, now thoroughly confused. "You didn't drive a car into the water tower. Did you?" She gasped with excitement. "Did you actually find a car and drive it around then totally lose control and crash into the water tower? And then you ran off knowing how much trouble you'd get into if you got caught?"

Dipper couldn't stop himself from opening his eyes and turning his head to look at his sister incredulously. "Um, no," he said simply. "I didn't go for a joyride. I was a little busy dealing with Rumble and Robbie."

Mabel shrugged, her smile still bright. "Oh well, maybe another day. So what are you sorry for?"

Dipper hesitated for a moment. "I might not have hit the tower with a car, but it was still my fault. Rumble punched the leg of the tower to bring Robbie down, and I'm the one that brought Rumble out of the video game."

"But that sounds like it's Rumble's fault," Mabel replied, frowning. "You didn't do it."

"Weren't you listening, Mabel?" Dipper said sadly. "I brought him out of the game."

"Well, yeah, but you didn't do it so he'd knock down the water tower and make Grunkle Stan and me fall," Mabel refuted as though that should have been obvious, her expression clearing.

Dipper sighed. "I shouldn't have brought him out at all."

Mabel took a moment and looked at her brother through narrowed eyes. "Yeah, how did that all happen anyway?"

Dipper groaned and sat up completely, the melting ice pack on his shoulder falling onto the bed next to his leg before he swung both of them around to sit on the edge of the mattress. "I suppose I should have known I'd have to explain this." He blew out a quick breath. "I was hiding out in the arcade, feeling like three o'clock would never come and go. Right around noon I started playing Fight Fighters and dropped a quarter. I bent over and picked it up, and that's when I saw a secret code written on the side of the game case, for 'ultimate power'. I did it, and the game lit up a lot brighter than normal and asked me to pick a character."

"You picked Rumble," Mabel said with a knowing nod.

"Well, yeah," Dipper agreed. "He's the main character in the game, and that's who I'd been using all day. Anyway, that's when I came up with the idea to have him be my bodyguard and brought him back to the Shack. You know about that part."

Mabel nodded and grinned. "It was fun hearing him say those weird words."

Dipper just shook his head. "Yeah, well, Robbie was at Circle Park waiting when we got there, and he was about as cocky as you'd expect. He wouldn't back down, not even after I brought Rumble out. I told him to let it go a couple of different times but he wouldn't do it." He hesitated briefly. "That's when I told Rumble to go ahead. And that's when things got out of control."

Mabel's eyes widened. "What happened?" she asked in a dramatic whisper.

"Rumble threw a punch, and Robbie managed to duck. Then Rumble grabbed him and lifted him into the air, with Robbie understandably freaking out and asking what was going on. It was my turn to feel all cocky and I told him I didn't want to do it but he'd given me no choice. Maybe now he'd leave me alone." Dipper dropped his chin to his chest for a second and shook his head. "I only wanted to scare him, to make him think twice before trying to beat me up again." He brought his head up again and looked mournfully at his sister.

"What did Rumble do to him?" Mabel asked.

"Threw him to the ground really hard," Dipper answered. "I hadn't been expecting that. I told Rumble that he could stop, that Robbie had had enough. But Rumble didn't stop, and threw him around and shot off a fireball. Robbie took off running. I yelled at Rumble and got on his case for almost killing Robbie instead of just scaring him." He shook his head. "Rumble said that he wouldn't rest until the man who had dishonored me was destroyed."

Mabel's expression became confused. "Dishonored you? Why would Rumble think Robbie had dishonored you? What did he think Robbie did?"

Dipper cringed. "Rumble thought Robbie killed my father. When I was explaining the whole Robbie situation, he got fixated on the idea. I... decided to let him think that. It seemed like the fastest way to get him to agree to protect me. I never thought it would lead to anything, especially not to what actually happened."

"You lied to him," Mabel said with disapproval, frowning.

"I did," Dipper admitted in a low tone. "And it really came back to bite me in the butt later."

"How?"

Dipper took a deep breath and released it before continuing. "Rumble chased Robbie through town, and I chased after both of them. Thankfully Soos drove up in his truck and gave me a ride; I'm not sure I would have gotten to the clearing around the water tower in time otherwise. Robbie was already at the top; I begged Rumble to stop, to listen to me. But he didn't, and that's when he started punching the leg of the tower."

Mabel's face morphed into an anxious expression. "I wondered what was shaking the tower so much, but I didn't dare look over the rail. Then when it seemed like it was about to go over, Grunkle Stan and I ran around to the opposite side. I heard Robbie yell as he fell."

Dipper cringed again. "I really had no idea you guys were up there."

"Of course you didn't. Why would you?" She took a couple of calming breaths then shook her head. "Keep telling your story."

"All right, if you're sure." He nodded when Mabel just gave an impatient gesture. "Anyway, Rumble caught Robbie and was going to use a finishing move on him. He even started powering up for it. Then I managed to get his attention and admitted that Robbie hadn't killed my father, that no one had. I told him I'd lied. Rumble said that I was a bad guy, and that if Robbie wasn't the last stage, it had to be me. I agreed to fight him."

"Why did you do that?" Mabel asked, surprised. "You weren't even willing to fight Robbie before, and suddenly you thought you could go up against a big guy like Rumble McSkirmish?"

Dipper frowned. "I had to do the right thing, all right? I'd started everything. The least I could do at that point was try to finish it. And fighting Rumble was the only way to do that."

Mabel considered it, then her eyes began to widen slowly. "You didn't think you could win, did you?" she gasped.

Dipper shrugged, ignoring the twinge from his right shoulder when he did it. "I didn't think I had a very good chance, no."

"But you fought him anyway. That was really brave." Mabel paused. "It was also pretty stupid, but mostly brave."

"Thanks." Dipper said wryly, then shook his head. "Anyway, we fought. And before you ask, yes, I got in a punch. It didn't actually do much damage, but I did hit him."

Mabel nodded. "Awesome. Then what happened?"

Dipper flinched slightly. "He kicked my butt. After I'd gotten hit with a special attack he started charging up an even bigger one, one of those really big combos. I saw my health bar was almost gone and knew that was it. But then an idea came to me, and I guessed it was going to be all right. I threw my arms wide and let him hit me with the biggest combo I've ever seen."

Mabel blinked. "That doesn't exactly sound all that smart, although it does explain why you look the way you do. How did you survive the combo?"

"No one ever really dies in a video game, not even the final boss." Dipper gave his sister a half-smile. "I was crumpled up in a heap and defeated, but I was okay, just like I hoped I would be. Rumble did his victory pose and gave his victory quote, and I knew I'd won by losing."

"Huh?" Mabel was thoroughly confused.

"Beating the final boss ends the game," Dipper explained. "And Rumble's pixels broke apart and faded away, proving the theory. It was over." He paused. "Well, Rumble's part of it all was over. Robbie, on the other hand…"

Mabel cringed. "I bet he was pretty mad."

Dipper nodded. "Yeah, you could say that. He ranted at me big time. By that point fighting him didn't scare me anymore, not to mention he had every right to be mad, so I was going to let him hit me and get it over with." He shrugged. "Robbie couldn't go through with it. Said he was a guitar player and had to save his hands."

Mabel rolled her eyes. "Yeah,_ that_ was it." Sarcasm dripped from every word.

"Well, he was lucky he didn't do it. Wendy and her family showed up about then, and she was pretty upset when she saw how roughed up we were. She said she hated it when guys fought. I managed to cover it all up by saying Robbie and I had stopped two other guys from fighting."

"Why did you do that? She probably would have broken up with him if you'd told her about him threatening you."

"I don't think I looked all that innocent, and the last thing I need is Wendy being mad at me. Besides, this should encourage Robbie to leave me alone since I protected him with her. I told him we were both going to lose Wendy if we didn't back off. We needed to just hate each other in silence. He agreed."

Mabel grinned. "You mean like I said you guys should do from the beginning?"

Dipper chuckled. "Well, yeah, where do you think I got the idea?"

Mabel's expression faded. "I still don't get how you losing ended the game. Wouldn't it have been better for you to beat Rumble?"

"I don't think so," Dipper answered thoughtfully. "Right after I entered the code into the game, it told me to choose my character, like I would at the beginning of a normal game. In that case, Rumble was my character, the one that was supposed to make his way through all the stages and ultimately defeat the final boss to win the game for me. It just ended up working out that Rumble decided that _I_ was the final boss. So in a weird way, when I fought Rumble I wasn't fighting for _me_, but for the game. _He_ was fighting for me."

"I'm starting to think this is making my head hurt," Mabel said ruefully. "So what do you think would have happened if you'd beaten him?"

"Well, in a normal game when I lose before finishing the game I get a chance to continue. I can put in another quarter and keep going from the point I was at when I lost. I have a feeling this ultimate game would have just continued and I would have had to fight Rumble all over again, and then again and again until he finally won. As much as people don't die in Fight Fighters, there's probably still a limit to how much a human body can take. It wouldn't have been pretty."

Mabel cringed. "Yeah, I bet it wouldn't have." She gave her brother a sympathetic look. "I'm glad you figured everything out. And hey, at least you don't have to worry about Robbie anymore."

Dipper sighed. "Maybe, but I still caused a lot of problems, all because I got scared and tried to run away from everything. I tried to hide out at the arcade, and then I hid behind Rumble. I should have just faced my issues head on and dealt with the consequences. No one would have gotten hurt that way."

Mabel looked skeptical. "Yeah, no one except _you_. Dipper, if you'd just gone and met Robbie at the park he would have beaten you up, and I seriously doubt he'd be leaving you alone now. Besides, violence isn't the best answer."

"No, it's not, and I wouldn't have been going there to actually fight. I could have tried to talk to him. It might have worked."

"I don't know about that, Dipper. Robbie's attitude toward you had just been getting worse and worse. I think he was just looking for an excuse. Of course, if he actually beat you up when you were just trying to talk to him, that whole thing with Wendy would have ended a lot differently." Mabel grinned. "You would have been beat up, and Robbie wouldn't have had a scratch on him."

"Hey!" Dipper protested. "I might have landed a punch in my defense."

Mabel ignored him. "And when Wendy saw the both of you she would have realized what happened and dumped Robbie for fighting!"

Dipper frowned. "You're not helping, Mabel." He shook his head. "On top of everything with Robbie, I almost got you and Grunkle Stan killed. Me being scared and hiding almost got you guys killed!"

It was Mabel's turn to frown. "Now you're not helping," she scolded. "And like I said before, it wasn't you. It's not like you didn't have a reason to be scared, and Rumble wasn't supposed to knock down the water tower. Everything worked out, and I'm not blaming you."

"I'm grateful for that, but it almost didn't work out."

"Dipper," Mabel said forcefully, reaching out and grabbing both sides of her brother's head to make sure she could stare directly into his eyes. "Robbie was determined to start a fight with you. Since you're not a fighter, it was only natural that you'd be scared and want to hide. Yeah, you should have just faced him, but even using Rumble the way you did you were trying to _not_ fight. Things just got out of hand. But you figured everything out, and everyone ended up okay. You learned your lesson and won't do anything like that again. Give yourself a break."

"Thank you, Mabel," Dipper whispered after a long moment, a small smile forming. It quickly faded as another sensation became more pronounced. "Um, Mabel? Could you let go? My eye is really starting to throb."

Mabel immediately let go, causing Dipper to fall back on the bed. "Sorry! I forgot about that!"

Dipper sighed. "No problem. I'll live." He blindly reached toward where he'd put his towel-wrapped ice pack and gingerly placed it back over his swollen eye.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Mabel asked as Dipper finally pushed himself back up to a sitting position.

"No, you've done more than enough." His sudden smile took away any sting. "It's going to take a little while to totally get over the guilt, but I'll make it thanks to you." He paused, his expression turning thoughtful. "What about you? You were acting weird on your way up here. Are you okay after that scare?"

"Oh, you shouldn't worry about me," Mabel said nervously, waving a shaky hand dismissively. "You've got enough on your mind. And I'm sure you've got some more scrapes and bruises. You should just take it easy."

Dipper gave her a knowing look. "You're babbling, Mabel. What's wrong?"

Mabel laughed loudly, a flash of her eyes showing she realized how forced the sound was. "I don't know what you're talking about! I'm fine! I just had a little scare, but I made it and I'm fine."

The hand holding the ice pack lowered to Dipper's side and he frowned. "Come on, Mabel. I know you better than this." He reached out and grabbed her hand as she tried to turn away. "You really helped me out here. Let me do the same for you." He gave her a pleading look, which wasn't nearly as effective as it could have been with his injured eye. "Please?"

Apparently it was enough. Mabel released a deep sigh and sagged a bit, making Dipper comfortable with letting go. "I was so scared, Dipper. The water tower shook for, like, forever. And when I asked Stan if it was safe he said it wasn't! He said we were on stilts high, high up! How is that supposed to be encouraging?"

"We are talking about Stan here," Dipper reminded her. "Encouragement isn't usually his strong suit."

"Well, yeah, that's true. And he was scared even before Rumble hit the thing. Still, I wish he wouldn't have said that." Mabel took a quick breath and blew it out, making some of her hair flutter briefly. "The worst part was that when everything had settled down, I couldn't move. Stan stood there and announced he was over his fear of heights, and I couldn't move. Not for anything. I pressed myself up against the water tower cylinder thingy that actually holds the water and froze." She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

"Considering how tilted the tower ended up, I can totally understand that," Dipper said encouragingly. "It was a completely natural response."

Mabel's pout deepened. "But I don't _want_ to be afraid of heights! Being afraid of heights is stupid!"

Dipper couldn't help but smile a little. "Not really, if you think about it. Falling from great heights is dangerous and life-threatening." He waved off the glare his statement inspired. "It's the truth!" He stared at his sister until she finally just rolled her eyes, dropped her arms back to her sides, and went back to waiting to hear what he had to say. "So, anyway, being afraid of heights is your body's way of letting you know you're approaching a dangerous situation, and that you should be on alert so you don't get hurt. It's human nature."

Mabel scoffed. "That's easy for you to say. You're not afraid of heights."

"Nowhere near a phobia level, no," Dipper agreed, then paused at the look of confusion on his sister's face. "Phobia. Really big fear. Like crippling, won't-let-you-do-anything-related-to-it fear." He waited for her to nod her understanding before continuing. "Now, I do get a little nervous near the edge of the roof and really high up in a tree. But it's pretty easy to ignore."

"Thanks for rubbing that in, bro," Mabel snarked as she glared at him with narrow eyes. "I've suddenly come down with a bad phobia, and you're sitting there gloating."

"That's just it, I don't think you have. I mean, yeah, you froze for a bit, but you obviously got yourself down. Give yourself a little time and I bet you'll be back to normal." Dipper smiled.

Mabel shuddered. "I don't know, Dipper. It took Grunkle Stan a long time to talk me into even trying to climb down the ladder. And then it took me three tries, and I had to stare at my hands and nowhere else the whole way down. Then, once I got to the ground I flopped down and kissed the grass. And I mean a _lot_. Are you sure I don't have a phobia?"

Dipper paused before answering. He knew he had to be careful; if Mabel got it in her head that she had a phobia, she'd more than likely really develop it. She was stubborn and enthusiastic about whatever she set her mind to. At the same time he couldn't just dismiss what had happened that day. For starters, it wouldn't be fair since she really had gone through a terrifying experience, and more importantly, if Mabel thought he was blowing off her concerns she'd jump on board the phobia train with even more enthusiasm and stubbornness, just to spite him. It was quite a tightrope he had to walk.

"A one-time freak-out doesn't mean you have a phobia," he said gently. "You have to keep in mind your reaction was normal considering what was happening. And let's not forget this only happened a couple of hours or so ago. You're still recovering from it all."

"You think I'm just still scared from before?" Mabel asked.

"Something like that," Dipper confirmed. "And that's okay!" he continued quickly when he saw the look of distaste that appeared on his sister's face at the comment.

Mabel scrunched up her face and stuck out her tongue. "Blargh! It doesn't make any sense! I haven't been scared after any of the other weird things we've run into, even if I was scared while we were going through them. Why am I scared now?"

The question made Dipper stop and think. She had a valid point. It wasn't like this was the first scary thing she'd ever faced, so what was the difference? He went through his memories of the things they'd faced so far that summer. Suddenly the answer came to him.

"You weren't in control!" he blurted out as he realized his epiphany.

"What?" Mabel asked, startled.

"On the water tower. You weren't in control. You didn't have any say in making the tower stop shaking, and you knew you weren't really safe until you were on the ground. All the other times, well…" He took a deep breath and released it. "With the gnomes, you managed to save us both with the leaf blower. You were driving the boat when we were trying to get away from what we thought was the Gobblewonker. You helped fight the wax figures and then got rid of what was left. You managed to grab Gideon's amulet and use it to protect me, and then you destroyed it so he couldn't use it anymore." Dipper shrugged. "You were able to actively do something that affected the outcome during the other times you were scared. Do you see what I mean?"

Mabel considered it. "Yeah, I think I do," she said slowly after a long moment of silence. "That actually makes a lot of sense."

Dipper smiled at her. "You know, you did everything you could on the water tower, too. There just wasn't a lot that could be done."

Mabel rolled her eyes and gave him a rueful half-smile. "I shouldn't have been up there in the first place."

"Maybe, but then, neither one of us probably should have been in the other situations, either. You were there, you did what you could to make it through, and you survived. That's a pretty big win in my book."

"I think I can accept that." Mabel's expression grew into a full-fledged grin for a moment, then faded somewhat. "So how do I deal with being scared now?"

"I have an idea," Dipper said as he hopped off his bed. "Come on." He gestured for his sister to follow as he headed for the door.

Mabel frowned but did as requested. "What are you thinking?"

Dipper gestured again, then came to a stop at the top step of the stairs that led to the lower levels of the house. "Come here."

Mabel swallowed nervously as she hesitated, finally making herself move to the position her brother had left for her, the spot on the step right next to the railing. "I don't know if I can go down the stairs on this side, Dipper."

"I don't expect you to," he told her. He sat down and patted the spot next to him. "Let's try this instead. Just sit there and look down on the floor below us. You just have to remember that the railing is there between you and a fall, and I'm here on your other side. I'd never let you fall if I could help it."

"I know you wouldn't," Mabel said with a soft smile. She nodded and lowered herself carefully to sit beside her brother. "You're pretty smart, you know that?" she said as she leaned her shoulder against his.

"I do my best." He leaned back against her so they ended up supporting each other.

The twins shared a smile deep with meaning and understanding, then both turned to look through the pickets of the railing to the floor below the attic. There was no doubt that Mabel would get over her fear and recover her balance while Dipper would end up being able to forgive himself. They were glad they'd been able to be there for each other when they needed it. And just like their position on the step, they knew they'd always be there to support each other in the future. It was just a consequence of being the close, loving siblings they were.


End file.
